A home theatre is a collection of speakers and audio/video components designed to reproduce the movie theatre experience in the comfort of your own home. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Video source: DVD, VCR, DSS, etc.

• Video screen: Direct-view or rear-projection TV, or front-projection system.

• Amplification: Audio/video receiver, or combination of processor and one or more amplifiers. Either set-up must be able to decode Dolby Digital^® and/or DTS® along with Dolby ProLogic^® multi-channel sound.

• Speakers: Choose musically accurate speakers since they have the sonic precision needed to reproduce dialogue, sound effects and film soundtracks cleanly and naturally. Your speakers must also be timbre-matched (sonically similar to each other) to ensure superior home theatre sound.

Front speakers (No.1) reproduce off-screen dialogue, sound effects and much of the musical score.

The centre speaker (No.2) is responsible for on-screen dialogue and sound effects. It is normally placed on top of your TV (or behind a perforated screen in a front-projection system). If used with a direct-view TV, this speaker must be magnetically shielded to prevent picture interference.

Surround speakers (No.3) reproduce the ambient sounds that are critical to the full home-theatre experience. Surround speakers that provide a uniform reverberant soundfield and accurate full-bandwidth bass work best.

Finally, the subwoofer (No.4) handles deep bass – it gives “weight” and dynamics to explosions, crashes and other low-frequency effects.